Rocky Lane's Black Jack #26

An old prospector who struck gold in the desert finds himself dying of thirst just yards from a legendary phantom spring—a hidden water source that appears and vanishes like a mirage. When Black Jack the stallion discovers the man and leads him to water, it sets off a chain of events that draws the attention of two desperate outlaws fleeing across the wasteland. As old Jess Aker recovers, his newfound fortune becomes the target of ruthless men who will stop at nothing to claim it.

A man disguises himself as Marshal Lowry, complete with the lawman's famous twin guns, to safely escort gold intended for a new church through a town where outlaws are lying in wait. His young son becomes an unwitting part of the deception as they navigate their way to the bank, and the boy finally learns why his father insisted on the unusual masquerade.

When a beaten-down Vermont clerk named Eph McHale washes up on the wrong side of a frontier town, he finds an unlikely ally in Black Jack, Rocky Lane's great stallion, who leads him to shelter and a chance to rebuild himself. Over two months in the hills, McHale transforms from a helpless dude into a resourceful man, trapping furs and gaining the strength to face the town that humiliated him—but his return brings him face-to-face with old enemies who won't let him leave in peace. Rocky Lane and Black Jack arrive just in time to show McHale that he's found true friends out West.

A Texas Ranger named Ted Peters stands against Len Vogner's ruthless toll-collecting racket in the badlands—a scheme enforced by gunmen and renegade Apaches that has bled trail herds dry. When Peters refuses to pay and drives a cattle herd through Vogner's territory, the outlaw escalates from ambush to all-out assault, determined to prove no one crosses his operation and lives. Peters must outwit Vogner's escalating traps and keep the herd moving west.

Rocky Lane's stallion Black Jack becomes his unlikely savior when the roving marshal takes a rifle shot meant for him—left wounded and vulnerable, Lane depends on his horse's wits to keep ruthless pursuers at bay. As the outlaws close in, Black Jack must use cunning to buy time for his master to recover, leading the drygulchers on a chase that tests both animal and outlaw alike.